I am a healthy 38 year old man dealing with hems for more than 10 years. My dad had his hems surgically removed when he was 38. I was 7 at the time and still remember the harshness of his recovery. Now, my 7 year old son isn't too happy about what's going on!

My wife, four boys and I live a very active life. Every time my hems would prolapse, it was three weeks down the drain. Everything stopped. I needed a solution to the problem. In the last three years the symptoms intensified even more; bleeding after BM's for months at a time and constantly having to push hems back in.

My father is a doctor; one of his colleague was the pioneers of this new procedure. I decided to go with the experienced doctor.

Luckily I did not do much research on PPH, for I would have been petrified after all I have read here post-surgery. I have had ACL's on both of my knees and appendix removed. Out of all my surgeries, this has been the most painful and horrific experience. After the surgery, the doctor ordered for me not to be released until I urinate. Well, it did not happened. 6 hrs. after the surgery I could not pee. My bladder was so full I thought I was going to die. A catheter was my only option. OH-MY-GOSH! day 1 passed and I still could not pee on my own. I was so afraid of the catheter that I drank little water the first 2 days. BIG MISTAKE!

Days 3 - 5 I was getting better, but still no BM. I was getting very concerned. I called the doctor and he suggested I take some ducolax and see what happens. I was so constipated I felt I had a plug up my rectum. "Maybe the doctor stapled my *** shut" I thought repeatedly. No BM after the 6th day. The doctor suggested I drink a bottle of magnesium citrate and if I did not have BM's after 6 hours to drink another bottle.

I went to hell and back. I cried, screamed and punched the walls. I honestly thought I was going to die. After 7 days, gravity won. I had a solid turd blocking the way.

LESSON NUMBER 1. Drink lots of water, eat lots of fiber. I am still on day 7, don't even know how I am typing. I only know one thing, from now on I will treat my digestive system with utmost respect and total dedication. What I experienced today will leave and indelible memory as a reminder to take care of myself.

I will try to update this post as the days go by. I am still in a great deal of pain. Only taking meds at night.

john19053

11-06-2011 07:17 AM

Re: "PPH" Hemorrhoidectomy - My experience/Recovery

[QUOTE=SluggerHMA;4780550]I am a healthy 38 year old man dealing with hems for more than 10 years. My dad had his hems

john19053

11-06-2011 08:06 AM

Re: "PPH" Hemorrhoidectomy - My experience/Recovery

I had the PPH procedure in 2011.
I wish I had the procedure a long time ago...

I had internal and external hems for the past 5 years.
I was always careful to clean the area with wet baby wipes...but it was a pain in the butt....no pun intended!!!
As time went by, the hems got worse.
At first, they only came out when I beared down to have a BM.
Over time, they started to increase in size and protruded out....it looked like cauliflower butt back there.
It wasn't really a problem until they started to hurt.
After that, there was always mild discomfort for about an hour after a BM.
Finally, I went to the Doc and he said they were too big for the rubber band litgation...and he suggested the PPH procedure.
I started reading these boards and got scared about all sorts of problems.

As I stated, this is something I should have done a long time ago!!!
The surgery went well, I felt great after the procedure but I had a slight problem uriniating.
It took about 3-4 hours ...but I finally was able to pee...
After that, I was able to leave the hospital and go home.
My Doc prescribed pain pills, muscle relaxers and antibiotics.
That night, I felt a lot of pressure and was on the toilet several times and had a small BM. I probably was pushing too much...but there was a lot of pressure!!
The next day was more of the same....pressure and now the pain started to increase...but was easily covered by the pain pills...just make sure you stay ahead of the pain...the pills take about 30 minutes to kick in...so at the first feeling of discomfort, take the pain pill. The BMs feel like an explosion at first...toe curling and all that....but I think it was more nerves than anything else...after it passed, I realized it wasn't that bad. The feeling of moving your bowels is a little different after the procedure. It starts a little higher up...its hard to describe...its not worse...just different...and I am just starting to get used to it. I am still not uriniating 100% normal...but it is getting better as time goes by...I never thought I would be soo excited to have a steady stream of urine!!
Today is Sunday and I just had a regular BM with almost no pain...of course I am still taking the pain pills and muscle relaxers....but there is not as much pressure as the previous days.

FYI...I was able to walk around after the procedure....and have no problems moving around...I am on the pain pills and tend to drift off sometimes...so driving is not an option...but you are not confined to your bed or anything like that.
Everybody is different...but I have to say...I am very happy I had the procedure.
I feel like I traded an hour of daily discomfort for a few days of pain that is easily handled by the pain pills.

Don't be scared....it is worth doing it....

cherryade

12-12-2011 06:28 AM

Re: "PPH" Hemorrhoidectomy - My experience/Recovery

Hello, I hade grade 2 and 4 hemmies which I suffered with for at least 15 years, given im only 32 that is a long time, . Originally they started out as just one little hemmy I went to the dr as a nervous 1g year old girl and the awful doctor dismissed me saying I was wasting gp time and they would go away. That obviously subconsciously scarred me as I never went back to gp about it. 15 years latre I wanted to star a famil and was told by a number of friend hemmies will be a problem if you dont suffer from them already. So with a new incentiv, I went back to the g (a diifernt one) the gp was shocked that I lived so long with this problem. She referred me to specialist and I had a pph and exision of two hemmies.

the pain after the surgery was horrendous. Not from the pph but the excisions. They cut off the hemmy and skin tags too whicha re the loose bits of skin which are left near the outside of the anus. This is to help hygienelater on when the surgery site has healed.

my top tip is rest, water drink plenty of it and lactulose. The first bowel movment came 3 days after the surgery (which was under general ane) I will not lie. It hurt. It feels like passing sharp razor blades and when u look in the bowel afterwards (if your brave enough) the actual stool or gauze (which they pack into ur rectum with meds to ease pain) is really quite pathetically small...

what I would say is a few days of pain is worth it to befree of these freeriders! And though ive said the pain post surgery is bad, it wasnt that bad as I voluntered to have another removed 3 months later! What can I say ive developed a good pain threshhold.

the moral to my tale is. Doctors, though medically trained are human,some are better at their job than others. If u meet a dr like I did when I was a teenager who treats u like dirt go to someone else. In fact go until someone listens to you. Also dont be afriad of surgery. Good luck. :)